Religion and discrimination in the workplace in Turkey
| Date | 01 June 2013 |
| Author | Zana Çitak,Theresa Weitzhofer,Muharrem Erdem,Tuğba Tanyeri-Erdemir |
| DOI | 10.1177/1358229113496701 |
| Published date | 01 June 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Religion and
discrimination in the
workplace in Turkey:
Old and contemporary
challenges
Tug˘ba Tanyeri-Erdemir, Zana C¸ itak,
Theresa Weitzhofer and Muharrem Erdem
Abstract
Discrimination based on grounds such as gender or disability has been widely studied in
recent research, but the issue of discrimination on grounds of religion or belief has
proven to be far less traceable, less studied and more ideologically charged. In Turkey,
a state discourse stating that 99% of the population is comprised of Muslim citizens
conceals religious diversity in the country. Our contribution focuses on two main
manifestations of discrimination within this framework: discrimination on the basis of
wearing a headscarf in (or outside) the workplace and discrimination based on religious
affiliation, specifically beliefs other than the majority Sunni-Hanefite Islam, in particular
Alevis and non-Muslim minorities. Since there are a number of recent studies dealing with
the issue of the headscarf, our primary focus will be on the latter topic. Our findings sug-
gest that in the Turkish case, while the headscarf has dominated the issue of discrimina-
tion on religious grounds, a more egregious discrimination takes place against members
of belief groups other than the Sunni-Hanefite majority. The issue of discriminationin the
Turkish workplace on grounds of religion or belief presents interesting questions and
challenges. Firstly, in a non-litigate society, discrimination on the basis of religious affilia-
tion is hard to track and quantify. Secondly, recognitionof difference does not always lead
to pluralism.
Middle East Technical University, Turkey
Corresponding author:
Tug
˘ba Tanyeri-Erdemir, Centre for Science and Society, Middle East Technical University, Ankara
06835, Turkey.
Email: tugbatanyeri@gmail.com
International Journalof
Discrimination and theLaw
13(2-3) 214–239
ªThe Author(s) 2013
Reprints and permission:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1358229113496701
jdi.sagepub.com
Keywords
Turkey, workplace, religion, discrimination, Alevi, headscarf
The issue of discrimination in the Turkish workplace on grounds of religion or belief pre-
sents interesting questions and challenges. While discrimination based on grounds such
as gender or disability has been recently subject of research and publication,
1
the issue of
discrimination on grounds of religion or belief has proven to be far less traceable, less
studied and more ideologically oriented. That it is more ideologically oriented is related
to the controversial and long-enduring question of the place of religion in Turkish society
since the establishment of the republic in 1923. While the founders tried to restrict the
public manifestations of Islam by confining it to the private realm, at the same time, they
inherited the Ottoman understanding of minority defined by religion. This meant the
continuation of the former division between Muslims and non-Muslims, leading to a
homogeneous and singular understanding of the Muslim population and differential
treatment vis-a`-vis both the non-Muslims and non-Sunni Muslims despite the constitu-
tional provision of equal citizenship. The suspicions towards Islam manifested through a
particular understanding of secularism and the distrust in religious minorities, be it non-
Muslim or non-Sunni, together constitute the source of the discrimination on grounds of
religion or belief in the workplace in Turkey as manifested in the questions of the head-
scarf and minorities, both old and new.
The reason that it is less traceable, and hence less studied, can be found in the pecu-
liarities of the Turkish legal system. Turkish society is not a litigate society, which means
in practice that only few incidents make it to the court. It is safe to argue that the expe-
rience of discrimination is widespread and its number is significantly higher than the few
court cases on religious discrimination. The reluctance to take the issue to the court for
fear of further exclusion and defamation is quite common in Turkey.
Based on 29 expert-interviews co nducted within the framework of the s ociological
investigation of the RELIGARE pr oject, our study aims to draw a general picture of the
main issues – old and new – and contem porary challenges related to the is sue of the
place of religion and religious identity in the workplace. It focuses particular ly on two
sources of discrimination: the headscarf issue and the situati on of minorities, that is,
those who do not belong to the Sunni-Hanefite majority and non-practising people or
unbelievers.
General background on the data
A marker of the ‘non-involvement’ by the state is that religious affiliation is not among
the census information provided by the Turkish Statistics Institute. Thus, although it is
undisputed that Turkey is home to a rich variety of religious groups, concrete numbers of
adherents of the different groups are not available. State discourse describes Turkey’s
population as 99%Muslim, which comprises the Sunni Hanefi majority, Alevis (the
second largest belief group in Turkey) and Shiite Caferis as main groups.
2
The remaining
1%is composed
3
of different Christian groups, Jews, Baha’is and Ezidis.
4
Tanyeri-Erdemir et al. 215
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